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atheist bus (& billboard) campaign

The atheist bus campaign began in
England with London
comedy writer
Ariane
Sherine and signs that read "THERE'S PROBABLY NO GOD. NOW STOP WORRYING AND ENJOY YOUR LIFE." Funds were collected by the British
Humanist Association and Richard Dawkins pledged to match donations
up to £5,500. On 21 October 2008, the first ads were put on some 600 buses and in many tube
stations.*One bus driver refused
to drive his bus because of the ads.

The Brits plan to run 1,000 advertisements on London
Underground and on a pair of giant LCD screens opposite Bond Street
tube station. The new ads will feature quotes from
public figures, such as Albert Einstein, Douglas Adams, and
Katharine Hepburn. The ads inspired atheist groups around the world
to follow suit. The campaign now includes placing messages on
billboards that range from giving comfort to non-believers to
advocating separation of church and state.

Sherine was
inspired by bus ads she saw that read: "When the son of man
comes, will he find faith on the earth?" followed by a web address.
She checked the website and learned that those who don't accept
Jesus will "spend all eternity in torment in hell." She
didn't think it was a joke and
felt a need to respond. The idea for an atheist bus campaign is now
global and includes nations in Europe, Australia, North America, and
South America. Click
here to view
an exchange between Sherine & a theist.

The atheist bus campaign has met with resistance in
several places.

In
Australia the Atheist
Foundation of Australia formally complained of religious
discrimination to the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights
Commission after being refused permission to put atheist advertising
on buses. The offensive signs were to read: "Atheism — celebrate
reason". APN Outdoor
refused to run the ads, giving no reason for their refusal. The
Atheist Foundation and Metro Tasmania reached a deal after
conciliation was ordered by the Office of the Anti-Discrimination
Commissioner. The signs will begin appearing on Tasmanian buses in
2010.*
In March 2010, buses started carrying atheist signs in
Melbourne.

In Washington,
D.C., the ads were sponsored by the American Humanist
Association. They were met with ads from the local Center for Family
Development. The atheists' ads proclaimed: "Why believe in a god? Just
be good for goodness' sake." The believers' ad read: "Why Believe?
Because I created you and I love you, for goodness' sake. —God."
[update:
22 Oct 2010: The new Washington DC Area Coalition of Reason
(Washington CoR) was given $7,875 in funding from the United
Coalition of Reason (United CoR) to put up ads in the area.]

In Northern
Ireland, atheist ads for buses were banned, but the ads may
appear on bus shelters, on digital screens, and billboards.

In Barcelona,
Spain, buses rolled out with the message "PROBLAMENTE DIOS NO EXISTE. DEJA DE PREOCUPARTE Y GOZA DE LA VIDA." (PROBABLY, GOD DOES NOT EXIST. GIVE UP WHAT WORRIES YOU AND ENJOY LIFE.) Madrid, Valencia,
and other cities are being targeted to run similar campaigns.
The Spanish newspaper La Gaceta, which covered the first day
of the ad campaign launched by the Union of Atheists and
Freethinkers” of Spain, said that despite "so much publicity and so
much ink spilled in the media," most Spaniards reacted with
indifference to the ads.*

The Freethought Association of Canada
reported that it had
collected $21,500 to buy atheist ads on buses in Toronto. A campaign
in Calgary met little resistance, but
several other Canadian cities have been thwarting the atheists'
efforts. Atheist ads have been rejected in Halifax, Vancouver,
Victoria, Kelowna, B.C., London, Ont., and Ottawa. (Atheist bus ads coming to Kelowna the week of April 11.) Folks in
Halifax are quite upset at the censorship. The
Ottawa
city council reversed its decision to ban the ads when it was told
that the ban probably wouldn't hold up in court. The attempt to
load buses with ads in Kingston,
Ontario,
fizzled because of contract language between the ad and the bus
companies.
But the small town of Saskatoon got into the action big time.

Ads reading "The bad news is that God doesn't exist.
The good news is that you don't need him" were due to appear on
buses in Genoa, Italy, but
religious conservatives blocked them. However, ads were okayed that
read: "The Good News Is There Are Millions of Atheists In Italy; The
Excellent News Is They Believe In Freedom Of Expression."

In Brazil, ATEA,
Associação Brasileira de Ateus e Agnósticos (Brazilian Atheists
and Agnostics Association), prepared to launch a bus ad
campaign. Daniel Sottomaior, who is leading the campaign in Brazil,
informs me that he was interviewed by two leading
Brazilian newspapers. Perhaps the newspaper pieces will inspire
contributors. In any case, the ads should begin running in the near
future. The ad campaign has already been attacked by a politician.
Cláudio Lembi, a former
vice-governor of São Paulo State, has attacked the ads as part of
the atheist campaign for communism, hedonism, nihilism, and anything
bad. Imagine what he'll say after he's actually seen an ad.

billboards, trolleys, and buses

Argument by billboard could lead to some humorous
moments, as in a sign outside a
church proclaiming that atheists do not exist.

Ninety complaints trump freedom of expression in Rancho Cucamonga, California. The city is being sued by the
Freedom
From Religion Foundation for removing a billboard ad that read:
"Imagine No Religion."*

A man
PZ Myers classifies as one of the "brain-damaged peckerwoods"
has put up a billboard of his own.
Ray
Comfort, the
Ben
Stein of televangelism, has shelled out $6,000 for one
month's rent of a billboard in Southern California on Interstate 105. Purely by coincidence, Comfort also announced that he has a
book coming out with the catchy title of You Can Lead an Atheist
to Evidence but You Can't Make Him Think.

In Genoa, Italy, the first atheist bus hit the
streets on February 16th, 2009, with its message "The Good News Is There
Are Millions of Atheists In Italy; The Excellent News Is They
Believe In Freedom Of Expression." The bus was back in the garage
within minutes, however. Much to the delight of conservative
religionists,
the bus battery died shortly after leaving the station.
Coincidence or divine intervention? Either way, it's good for a
laugh.

In Madison, Wisconsin, the bus ad campaign has become a paper war between the
Freedom
From Religion Foundation and nearby Pilgrims Covenant Church.
The atheists are putting ads inside buses, while the Pilgrims are
buying space on the
outside.
One atheist ad reads: "As my ancestors are free from slavery, I am
free from the slavery of religion." (This is a quote from the late
actress Butterfly McQueen, who appeared in the movie "Gone With the
Wind.") The Pilgrims countered with: "The fool hath said in his
heart, there is no God" (Psalm 14, verse 1).

Meanwhile, a campaign was initiated in Montreal.Ten controversial bus advertisements promoting
atheism went up around downtown Montreal as part of the Quebec
Humanist Association's campaign against established religion.

In Germany, organizers raised funds for a
campaign in Berlin, Munich, and Cologne.
Phillip Möller, one of the campaign organizers, said
the German
group had collected €3,500 in the first four days of fundraising.
They needed €16,000 more to fund the project. The campaign had
problems finding a bus company that would run their ads (17
companies rejected the ads). Campaign organizers "decided to drive
the bus themselves on a tour which will cover 20 major German
cities."*

In
Boise, Idaho, a local billboard spurred some heated debate over
its message: "Beware of dogma." The billboard was funded mainly by
the Freedom from Religion Foundation. "We were inspired by other
groups around the country and around the world who have been putting
up similar humanistic messages," said president of the Humanists of
Idaho Paul Rolig.

In
Finland, the Finnish Humanist Union and the Union of
Freethinkers of Finland prepared a campaign for Helsinki and Tampere.

A private citizen
in Finland filed a complaint
with the Council of Ethics in Advertising over the atheist bus
campaign, which had plastered buses in some cities in Finland with
atheist slogans. According to the petition, the ad campaign for
atheism is slanderous and breaches UN human rights treaties. The
chair of the Union of Freethinkers, Jussi Niemelä, denies the
allegations.

In
north Texas, two billboards, one on Interstate 35E near Loop 12
in northwest Dallas, the other on I-35W near Braswell in northern
Fort Worth, read: "Don't believe in God? You are not alone."update: 19 Dec 2010: Atheist and Religious Bus Ads Banned in City Atheist groups will no longer be able to advertise on buses in Fort Worth after the local transit authority bowed to public pressure and banned all religious advertising.

In
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the American Atheists (AA) affiliate,
Florida Atheists and Secular Humanists (FLASH) put up a billboard,
as seen below, that local residents, mostly African-Americans, want
removed. FLASH is
collecting money and hopes to carry the billboard message to
other parts of south Florida. According to a
news
report (New Observer):

The billboard may be working: About 30
people attended a recent Florida Atheists and Secular
Humanists' get-together at a Davie, Fla., restaurant, up from
the usual dozen.

Over beers and burgers, nonbelievers,
agnostics, skeptics and lapsed Jews, Christians and Muslims
talked about everything from science and philosophy to
politics and current events.

In
Moscow, Idaho, the American Humanist Association put up a
billboard on highway 95.

The
Iowa Atheists and
Freethinkers (IAF) launched an advertising campaign on the
sides of 20 transit buses in
Des Moines Iowa. Iowa governor Chet Culver claimed he was
"disturbed" by the bus ads. The Des Moines Area Regional
Transit Authority (DART) took down the ads,
claiming that they were never approved in the first place and that
they were accidentally put on buses.
The Iowa Atheist and Freethinkers said the ads were approved.
The state's American Civil Liberties Union chapter launched an
investigation into the legality of DART's actions.*
DART officials met with Iowa Atheist and Free Thinkers and concluded
they were operating under an outdated advertising policy. DART
officials apologized to the group and said they would reproduce
the
ads their expense.*
When the ads finally went up, one of the bus drivers refused to take
over a bus during a shift change because of the ad. "DART was able
to get another driver on the scene quickly enough so that passengers
only had to wait about 5 minutes before their commute resumed. The driver is facing
disciplinary actions. Angela Shiel refused to drive the bus
because the ad goes against her Christian faith. She has been
suspended from her job and faces termination.* Also, "...a handful of fairgoers... refused to
board a state fair shuttle bus because of the ads."*

San Francisco is now on board. The Freedom from Religion
Foundation is putting up signs in 75 of San Francisco’s MUNI buses
(October 2009) including one with a quote from Richard Dawkins: “The
God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character
in all fiction.”

Paul Woolley,
director of Theos, disagrees with Taylor: "We think that the
campaign is a great way to get people thinking about God. The
posters will encourage people to consider the most important
question we will ever face in our lives."

It's pretty obvious
that deciding to put an ad on a bus is an important question,
but I didn't realize it was the most important question we will
ever face.

“Religion does not define character” — Charlie Chaplin is described as someone who didn’t believe in god while Adolf Hitler is described as someone who did.

“Faith gives no answers. It only impedes questions.”

…

“We are all atheists with the gods of others” — the captions read “Hindu myth,” “Egyptian myth,” and “Palestinian myth.”

…

“If God exists, everything is permitted.”

ATEA logos contain the phrase “Say no to prejudice against atheists.”

Atheists say thank-you to bus ad thief The mystery behind Kelowna’s [British Columbia] missing atheist bus ads may never be solved, but the club that paid to put them up doesn’t have sour grapes. Instead, they’re extending a thank-you to the thief. “Whoever removed the signs, if they intended us harm, they achieved the opposite,” said Guy King, head of the Kelowna branch of the Centre for Inquiry, noting it should cost club members $210 to replace the bus ads. “They gave us a gift, in terms of publicity. The new signs will be up soon, and hopefully someone will rip them off again.”

US judge rules for Muslim defector bus ads A group that says it helps Muslims quit their faith has won a court order against Detroit's regional transit system for rejecting bus ads that ask, "Fatwa on your head? ... Leaving Islam? Got questions? Get answers!" U.S. District Judge Denise Page Hood granted a preliminary injunction Thursday against the bus system, which was sued last year by the American Freedom Defense Initiative.

Atheists use billboards to create interest in their convention New billboard ads are turning some heads in Des Moines this week. The ads were paid for by the American Atheists and read: “You know there is no God…we know you’re right.” The American Atheist National Convention is scheduled for April 21-24 in Des Moines.

Last week, the billboard pictured above went up outside the New Jersey entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel. Morning Gloria at Jezebel doesn't like it. "Ridiculing a belief system that, for many people, is the basis for their entire life philosophy is not a way to win friends or influence people ... confrontational atheism isn't productive."

Give me more, said PZ Myers. "Tell me, what about that sign interferes with common decency? Are people who see that sign subsequently unable to go to church? Does it silence preachers all across the land? No. Does that sign incite hatred, does it deprive people of their civil rights, does it oppress a minority? No ... Might it stir a little resentment, maybe even sting Christians a little bit because it reminds them that atheists exist and freakin' disagree with them? YES! And that is a good thing that does them no harm, and even does them considerable good. We're here, we're just as much a part of this society as they are, and we're not going to sit silently any more."

This one honors U.S. Senator Thomas Gore who was an
Oklahoma native and may have been the first openly atheist US
Senator. He was first elected in 1907.

Atheistic Billboards Across N.C. Tout a Dangerous Message [says
Mr. Creech, who calls himself "Rev. Mark H. Creech"] "The North Carolina
Secular Association ... mounted an ad campaign that has their
message posted on billboards in six major cities in the Tar Heel
State. The message on the billboards: 'One nation, indivisible.'

"What does the North
Carolina Secularist Association want? They say via their website
that they want no references to a god in the "Pledge of Allegiance" or
the National Motto which says, "In god We Trust" – no reference to
a god in the state's constitution – or as they vaguely added, "and in
many other ways."

Atheists of Florida, a
group advocating separation of church and state,
placed five billboards that promote "one nation, indivisible"
(but no "god") in Lakeland, Florida. The goal is to send a
message this Fourth of July that atheists are Americans, too.

Atheist ads on Detroit buses vandalized At least three of the
ads, which say “Don’t believe in God? You are not alone,” had the
upper left hand corners ripped off, removing the word “don’t” from
the sign.

A group of atheists
says it faced discrimination when a bus company rejected its
advertisements and is now considering legal action.

The bus advert, which
reads: "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy
your life," has been used worldwide but was dismissed by bus
companies in New Zealand as too divisive.

Controversial atheism campaign to hit billboards
Controversial ads promoting atheism will soon appear on
billboards throughout New Zealand....The Atheist Bus Campaign
last year raised more than $22,000 to fund the ads, but NZ Bus
declined to run them after receiving a number of complaints from
the public and staff.

The group applied for
legal representation from the Office of Human Rights Proceedings
in March to pursue a discrimination case against the company.

Campaign spokesman
Simon Fisher said the billboards would get the atheist message
out into the public while the group awaited the office's
decision.

"We're still keen to
go ahead with the discrimination case against NZ Bus, and
therefore we still need to be able to follow through with the
bus campaign at the end of the day. So we need money aside for a
bus campaign if we do win," said campaign spokesman Simon
Fisher.

The ads should appear
on billboards in Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch within
two to three weeks, he said.

Edd Doerr, the
elected head of the American Humanist Association from
1995-2009...writing in the NY Times (Dec. 9/09) ... commented:
“…I am embarrassed by the A.H.A.’s “good without God” campaign
of signs on transit vehicles. Humanists are philosophical
naturalists, but more important than advertising, one item of
the humanist worldview is emphasizing the many positive
positions we hold in common with a wide range of religious
believers. I refer to such matters as peace, civil liberties,
religious freedom, the environment, social justice, democracy,
women’s rights and so on.”

Death threats force removal of atheist billboard A billboard
that read "Don't believe in God? You're not alone" was put up by the
Cincinnati Coalition of Reason on Tuesday. By Wednesday afternoon
the group was told it would have to come down because the landowner
claimed he was getting death threats.

Billboard campaign hopes to dispel atheist stereotypes "Freddie Schineller is a hip-looking math professor with a salt-and-pepper goatee. His artist wife, Holly, has long blond hair and stays home to take care of their four kids ages 8-12.... A portrait of the smiling Schineller family appears on a billboard in Mesa, one of nine featuring Phoenix-area residents or families who describe themselves as atheists, agnostics or freethinkers, posted throughout the Valley. There are two in Tucson. Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation and its Phoenix-area chapter plastered the faces over billboards last month as part of its “Out of the Closet” campaign. They are expected to come down next week."